The San Diego Padres are a Major League Baseball team according to various interweb sources. At the moment, then happen to be a fairly troubled Major League Baseball team. I think there was a divorce in the ownership family some years ago…assets were liquidated…franchise players were dealt…camouflage uniforms were scaled back on….

It’s been a tough couple of years.

In 1998, the Padres represented the National League in the World Series. There were quickly trounced by the Yankees and since then, the team slowly fell from grace in the NL west. First ballot Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman is gone. Jake Peavy is gone. I think they even got rid of the chicken.

So yes. The Padres are waiting for their renaissance period. Is 2010 the start of something special in San Diego? Has the new decade brought with it the return of the Padres to the class of the National League?

Let’s have a look.

Everyday lineup:

C – Nick Hundley
1B – Adrian Gonzalez
2B – David Eckstein
3B – Chase Headley
SS – Everth Cabrera
LF – Kyle Blanks
CF – Scott Hairston
RF – Will Venable

UTL – Jerry Hairston Jr., Tony Gwynn Jr., Aaron Cunningham

Starters – Chris Young, Jon Garland, Kevin Correia, Clayton Richard, Mat Latos, Aaron Poreda (possibly)

Closer – Heath Bell

Take another gander at that roster. That’s what 40 million dollars can buy you in the Majors in 2010. I hate to keep kicking this team while they’re down, but there is virtually nothing to be inspired by here. Adrian Gonzalez is the best player on the team by a friar’s robe length, and while he is probably the most affordable player -production wise- in all of baseball, many think he too soon be gone so that San Diego may retool it’s minor league system with a bevy of Boston or some other prospect laden team headed back to the Padres.

To be fair, that is likely the weakest every day lineup in the league. Once Gonzalez moves on, my goodness, I don’t know what you’d hope for at the ball park every day. Maybe a 2 for 1 Hairston Brothers bobblehead giveaway day will be scheduled. I don’t even know how to make a 1-9 lineup card out of those names, although I’ll stick with tradition and say manager Bud Black decides to hit Gonzalez third and the pitcher last. The other seven slots he might as well pick out of a hat.

The rotation isn’t bad by any means. It’ll be difficult to go up against the Lincecum’s and Cain’s of the Giants, the Kershaw’s and Kuroda’s of the Dodgers, and the Jimenez‘ and De La Rosa’s of the Rockies, but there are worse rotations in the league. Correia quietly had a nice year last year, and Latos and Poreda could make a nice duo in years to come. Something to consider though is that San Diego’s Petco Park is the best pitchers park in the league. This team would be better suited throwing the three contributing writers of this blog out there in their starting rotation and spending their money on power/speed/average/lottery ticket type hitters.

Closer Heath Bell continues seamlessly in his transition from set up man to powerful closer, but again, a team with this sort of makeup can’t afford to have their second best player be their 50 innings per year closer.

I watched the Grammy’s last night, and apart from the forced duets that the Grammy producers insist upon showcasing year after year, and the very sad and confusing sight that were the late King of Pop’s children, the thing that stuck out to me most was the Black Eyed Peas. I don’t particularly enjoy the Black Eyed Peas, but many, many people do. The Black Eyed Peas performed a couple of shortened songs with a smattering of backup dancers and DJ’s and special effects. They were on stage for a total of maybe 5 minutes. The band consists of 4 members. The two that anyone who doesn’t follow the band around the country know include Fergie and Mr. Will.I.Am. There are two other men in the group. They were not permitted to sing and were marginalized to the side stages for any major choreography. They were allowed to participate, but no one was really taking them seriously. They were in short, the 2010 San Diego Padres.

Looking back, this preview looks overly harsh, but in fact I think I’ve sugar coated it a bit. Shout for the pina colada man, Padres fans. It’s going to be a long summer.

Predictions:

Team MVP – Gonzalez…for as long as he’s there.

X-Factor – the amazing weather in the greater San Diego area. Should make this brand of baseball easier to consume.

Standing: 5th in the NL West with a good chance of securing first overall pick in 2011 draft.

Our FansEdge 30 Team MLB Preview continues with the San Francisco Giants. Look for another preview on Friday when James makes his first contribution.

Baseball by the Bay

The San Francisco Giants bask in the glow of Willie Mays and loom in the shadows of Barry Bonds and it stirs an odd feeling to see the two of them arm in arm. Mays is an iconic face, name, and the star of one of the most iconic highlights in baseball history. Bonds swept the gullible world up in a torrent of power and dominance at the plate that baseball had never seen. Then came the steroids investigations, scandals, hearings, reports, rumors, accusations, denials, etc, etc, etc and since his involuntary retirement from the game, he has been one of the most prominent faces to represent the steroid era. And so the two best players to wear a Giants uniform will go down in history with measurably different legacies.

Turning the Leaf Over

It has been two seasons since Barry Bonds last played baseball in the bay. In the last three seasons that Bonds played, the Giants were 222-273. They twice finished 3rd in the division and in his last year they finished dead last, losing 91 games.

In the two years since he left, the Giants have given themselves a face lift and emerged as a younger, more balanced, and better baseball team, finishing 88-74 in 2009, the fifth best record in the NL.

In 2007, the youngest starting position player was 32 years old. They did not have a single player under the age of 30 have more than 300 plate appearances. The top nine players with the most plate appearances had an average age of 35.67 years.

On the flip side, their pitching was young. Tim Lincecum (23) and Matt Cain (22) were locking down starting rotation spots. Noah Lowry and Barry Zito were both also under 30 and in the rotation.

After the 2007 season the Giants began a plan that they continued after the 2008 season and after last season. They let aging veteran players move on via free agency or trade and only replaced them with temporary fixes while they waited for their minor league prospects to become major league ready.

Pedro Feliz moved to the Phillies after 2007 and they replaced him with Jose Castillo who kept the seat warm for Pablo Sandoval, who had a monster breakthrough season as a 22 year old third baseman in 2009.

In 2009 they got younger at every infield position. They’ll get younger in the starting rotation in 2010. They featured three starters age 26 or under (Cain, Lincecum, and Jonathan Sanchez), Zito (31) and the now retired Randy Johnson last year in the rotation.

The Big Unit’s exit from the game possibly makes way for stud prospect Madison Bumgarner to step into the rotation. Bumgarner is 25 years or so younger then The Unit and probably about 7 years younger than Johnson’s mustache.

A Plan

In the past the Giants have been known for inking some huge contracts to players who have not delivered, most notably Barry Zito and his nine digit deal, but at least Zito pitched respectably last year.

They gave Aaron Rowand a large contract. He made $9.6 million dollars last season and hit just .261 with 15 HR and 61 RBI.

But this off season they have signed players to far less risky contracts. They signed Aubrey Huff to a one year deal for $3 million dollars. They signed Mark DeRosa to two years for $12 million. And they brought back Bengie Molina on a one year, $4.5 million deal to keep the catcher’s position warm for Buster Posey.

Key Departures for the Giants: Rich Aurilia, Randy Johnson, and Randy Winn – all 35 years old or older.

Key Arrivals for the Giants: Aubrey Huff, Mark De Rosa

What they’ll look like:
C – Bengie Molina
1B – Aubrey Huff
2B – Freddy Sanchez
SS – Edgar Renteria
3B – Pablo Sandoval
LF – Mark DeRosa
CF – Aaron Rowand
RF – Nate Schierholtz

Util – Juan Uribe
IF – Emmanuel Burriss
OF – Fred Lewis

Rotation: Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Barry Zito, Jonathan Sanchez, and Madison Bumgarner
Closer: Brian Wilson

This line-up isn’t going to score you 6-7 runs per game. But it doesn’t need to because they should get a ton of quality starts out of this rotation and late leads are in good hands with Brian Wilson in the 9th.

Predictions:

Team MVP: Pablo Sandoval. Sandoval hit .330 with 25 HR and 90 RBI in his first full season in the major as a 22 year old in 2009. Look for a .300+ average with increased power numbers this year.

X-Factor: X-Factor is a weird term. It could mean a lot of things. Here it means this: the thing you aren’t counting on to happen, but it could happen and if it does, really good things will follow. Jonathan Sanchez could be awesome. He could be 16-17 wins, 200+ K’s and be a third scary pitcher to face in this rotation. He needs to improve his consistency but he doesn’t walk a ton of guys and he strikes out more than one per inning so that’s a great place to start.

The Giants had the fifth best record in the NL last year and I expect them to improve on it this year. They are operating like an organization with a plan and that’s a good thing.

Prediction: 2nd place in the NL West and NL Wild Card winner.